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For the relatively few academics who study the history of biology in the modern Middle East, Marwa Elshakry’s long-awaited debut monograph Reading Darwin in Arabic, 1860–1950 (2013) is cause for celebration," writes reviewer Elise K. Burton. "Her book will also draw a great deal of interest from the general public, not least due to the increasing awareness of and attention given to expressions of creationism in the Middle East and the “Muslim world” in English-language media."

“Any student of the evolution controversy in America will profit greatly from [Shapiro’s] discussion of the central role played by those involved with the publication and marketing of biology textbooks during the early twentieth century,” writes reviewer George E Webb.

Reviewer Adam R Shapiro explains, “The book’s introduction promises ‘a history of how creationism won so many converts.’ What follows is a detailed synthesis of organized creationism that says little about the converts themselves.

What is the underlying message of Lauren Grodstein’s “compelling and engrossing work of fiction,” wonders reviewer Laurel Saiz: “Anti-creationist screed? A fundamentalist Christian Trojan horse disguised as a book exploring concepts about evolution? My guess [is that it is:] … Having a belief in a higher order is nice and might be comforting.

“Cyrille Baudouin and Olivier Brosseau dissect the creationist problem in France and some nearby countries,” explains reviewer Kevin Padian. “They find some similarities to the American problem, including the direct importation of some American creationist views to Europe. And they also find differences that reflect indigenously European cultural, political, and social influences.

Lessl’s book is both “a careful historical study of the relationship between science and religion from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, and … a biting critique of the vaulting ambition of contemporary supporters of evolutionary science who fail to respect the division between technical and public spheres as they grasp at a moral and political authority they do not legitimately hold,” writes reviewer Leah Ceccarelli, who found the former part of the project more impressive than the latter.

Reviewer Steve Watkins explains, “Much of Long’s research delves, in effect, into a question recently posed by Karl Giberson: ‘Why do tens of millions of Americans prefer to get their science from Ken Ham, founder of the creationist Answers in Genesis, who has no scientific expertise, rather than from his fellow evangelical Francis Collins, current Director of the National Institutes of Health?’ Long’s book provides some important and troubling answers to such questions.” Watkins warns, “A challenge fo

“Jeffrey Moran’s new book offers a compelling explanation of the durability of America’s anti-evolution impulse,” writes reviewer Adam Laats. “Moran demonstrates the ways that anti-evolutionism has been both a bellwether and an influence on broader trends in American culture.” Especially noteworthy is Moran’s focus on gender, region, and race. Laats concludes, “American Genesis makes an important addition to the historical literature on the antievolution impulse.

Reviewer Taner Edis describesAmong the Creationists as “one of the most readable, interesting, and different books about creationism that has appeared in many years,” praising its “blend of personal observation and probing investigation of scientific and philosophical questions.” He sympathizes with but is wary of the book’s challenge to the view that science and religion are compatible.

Reviewer Tim Beazley describesMarketing Intelligent Design as arguing that “the ‘intelligent design’ movement (IDM) is not really a serious attempt to advance a scientific alternative to evolutionary science, but rather a slick marketing plan designed to evade the judicial interpretations of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause that prohibit religious proselytizing in public elementary, middle, and high school science classes.” He concludes, “Overall the book is excellent,” and ver